Harper Valley High School

7/2/13

This American Life- Chicago- Harper Valley High School

I enjoy getting different perspectives from teachers and other school districts. After listening to This American Life- Harper Valley High School, my heart goes out to any school that has had to deal with shooting and violence. Anymore I don’t know what school hasn’t been through some form of violence, but I do have a new appreciation for the school district I work in and a new respect for schools like Harper Valley High School. To hear what some kids have to go through on a day-to-day basis just leaves my speechless!

There were 7 rules that students needed to follow just to try and be safe on a daily basis in the Harper Valley school district community. Rule 1: Look at a map and know your geography (there are 15 different gangs and that is what makes up the social structure of the school); Rule 2: Never walk alone; Rule 3 never walk in a group. If you are in a group it looks gangish and people think you are up to something. So it’s best to walk just far enough away from a few others that are walking together so you are not technically alone, but not technically with the group; Rule 4: Never walk on the sidewalk, but walk in the street. The street in more open and safer and you have more options if you need to take off running; Rule 5: If someone shoots, don’t run because then they will continue to shoot. If you fall to the ground you will have a better chance; Rule 6: You can be shot for reasons big and/or small; Rule 7: Never go outside. Stay away from your block as long as possible. If there is a school event, stay there as long as you can. It makes me sad to think that kids have to worry about these things daily. I always have thoughts and ask myself how can I help? There are some ideas and sayings that the staff in Harper school would use and I think I will take them with me to help my students, for example, “I appreciate you in advance” and “You are valued, you matter”.

I try and take the time to talk to my students when they are having a rough day or they have things going on at home. My challenge is not “enough time” in the day. I hate saying that because it’s about the kids, so I should make time, right? But sometimes I will have a student whom needs to talk and process right when I’m in the middle of a group and that is hard to juggle because the group is important, but so is the individual. Maybe what I will start doing is checking in with my students in the mornings to see how they are doing and if any of them need to come talk to me, then I can make time in my mornings for that.

Listening to the social workers’ stories was amazing. The story of De’vonte and his social worker, Crystal, was a sad story. She was there for him and he would visit her 2-3 times a day. From the little that we did know about their situation, it seemed like Crystal was doing everything she could do to help De’vonte, and it was working, but in the end the outcome wasn’t what I thought would have happened. I learned a lot being able to hear the staff, parents, and students’ perspectives and stories.